Hundreds of books are added to the Library's collection each month. Here are the most recent Historical Fiction books for adults.
Death and Hard Cider
Musician, sleuth and free man of color Benjamin January gets mixed in politics, with murderous results. September, 1840. A giant rally is being planned in New Orleans to stir up support for presidential candidate William Henry Harrison: the Indian-killing, hard-cider-drinking, wannabe "people's president". Trained surgeon turned piano-player Benjamin January has little use for politicians. But the run-up to the rally is packed with balls and dinner parties, and the meagre pay is sorely needed. Soon, however, January has more to worry about than keeping his beloved family fed and safe. During an elegant reception thrown by New Orleans' local Whig...
Format: Book
View Death and Hard CiderThe Lurking Place
"What happens when the drive to succeed professionally collides with ambitions of the heart? In The Lurking Place, James Eric Lowell, a young Black poet, strives to advance his career and extend his whirlwind romance with his white lover, Sophia, among other romantic interludes. Set in New York City and Mexico during 1968 - a time of political upheaval and social change - this cinematic page-turner captivates the reader with its richly drawn settings, unforgettable characters, and timeless truths." -- Back cover.
Format: Book
View The Lurking PlaceDaddy Was A Number Runner
This bittersweet and sharply observed masterpiece recounts a year in the life of twelve-year-old Francie Coffin. It is the summer of 1934, and nowhere are the effects of the Great Depression more apparent than in Harlem. But Harlem is also home to a community's anger, humor, and vitality, the paradoxical cradle of young Francie's innocence and dreams-just like the daily numbers game played for a the small glint of hope that it boldly promises but will never fulfill.
Format: Book
View Daddy Was A Number RunnerLast Call at the Nightingale
"New York, 1924. Vivian Kelly's days are filled with drudgery, from the tenement lodging she shares with her sister to the dress shop where she sews for hours every day. But at night, she escapes to The Nightingale, an underground dance hall where illegal liquor flows and the band plays the Charleston with reckless excitement. With a bartender willing to slip her a free glass of champagne and friends who know the owner, Vivian can lose herself in the music. No one asks where she came from or how much money she has. No one bats an eye if she...
Format: Book
View Last Call at the NightingaleMoonlight and the Pearler's Daughter
"Western Australia, 1886. After months at sea, a slow boat makes its passage from London to the shores of Bannin Bay. The sea is a shocking blue, and gulls float above battered mangrove jetties. From the deck, young Eliza Brightwell and her family eye their strange new home. Here is an unforgiving land where fortune sits patiently at the bottom of the ocean. A land where pearl shells bloom to the size of soup plates. Where men are coaxed into unthinkable places and unspeakable acts by the promise of unimaginable riches. Ten years later, the pearl-diving boat captained by Eliza's...
Format: Book
View Moonlight and the Pearler's DaughterQueen of Swords
Imprisoned in the French Antilles for endangering the Crown, Jennet Huntar awaits rescue by her kinsman, Luke Bonner, and together they set out to find their child, surrendered to a virtual stranger at the time of her imprisonment.
Format: Book
View Queen of SwordsBlack Betty
"1961: For most black Americans, these were times of hope. For former P.I. Easy Rawlins, Los Angeles's mean streets were never meaner...or more deadly. Ordinarily, Easy would have thrown the two bills in the sleazy shamus' face -- the white man who wanted him to find the notorious Black Betty, an ebony siren whose talent for all things rich and male took her from Houston's Fifth Ward to Beverly Hills. There was too much Easy wasn't being told, but he couldn't resist the prospect of seeing Betty again, even if it killed him...."--Provided by publisher.
Format: Book
View Black BettyRemember Love
"The undisputed queen of Regency romance is back with a brand-new series perfect for fans of Bridgerton. Discover New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh's Ravenswood series. The handsome and charismatic Earl of Stratton, Caleb Ware, has been exposed to the ton for his clandestine affairs-by his own son. As a child, Devlin Ware thought his family stood for all that was right and good in the world. They were kind, gracious, and shared the beauty of Ravenwood, their grand country estate, by hosting lavish parties for the entire countryside. But at twenty-two, he discovered his whole world was an...
Format: Book
View Remember LoveJoan
"1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. From this chaos emerges a teenage girl who will turn the tide of battle and lead the French to victory, an unlikely hero whose name will echo across the centuries. In Katherine J. Chen's hands, the myth and legend of Joan of Arc is transformed into a flesh-and-blood young woman: reckless, steel-willed, and brilliant. This stunningly-researched novel is a sweeping narrative of her life, from a childhoodsteeped in both joy and violence, to her meteoric rise to fame at the head...
Format: Book
View JoanGroupies
Hopping a Greyhound to Los Angeles in 1977, Faun, a naïve college dropout and aspiring photographer, reconnects with her childhood best friend who is a rising model and a muse to a rock band front man.
Format: Book
View Groupies